Naturally, I’m not talking about the original Nokia 3210. Although, you could still use one for calls and texts if you were so inclined. Switching off the 2G network you need for that shouldn’t happen until 2033 in the UK, according to the schedule.

No, I’m talking about the 2024 version of the 3210 made by HMD. It’s a “featurephone”: a device which has more functionality than the old bricks we used to carry, but not as much as a smartphone. There’s a camera, maybe some basic Internet connectivity, a radio… that sort of thing.

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Why do you have a Nokia 3210?!

The answer to this is easy, but before I get to that let me clarify something. I have more than one phone, ok? I have an iPhone, and I have a new 3210. Alas, I was never a Nokia owner back in the 90’s/00’s… instead, I had a Motorola v2288. I liked the FM Radio feature, which incidentally is also available on the 3210.

The 3210 serves one very specific, and very simple, purpose. That phone is for work. Should someone need to call me for work, it goes to that phone and fulfills that requirement admirably. Similarly if someone needs to message me, the 3210 does that just fine too. Providing, of course, they’re fine with good ol’ SMS – no WhatsApp.

On top of this, since it’s a work phone, when I’m off the clock then the phone goes off too. I find this especially good in the era of hybrid or remote working. I’m not required to be available 24/7 365-days-a-year. So in that sense, it’s great for work-life balance.

Okay… but is it any good?

Honestly, that depends on what you want to do with it. For my particular use case, yeah I’m happy to say that it’s pretty good.

Firstly, the battery life is fantastic and the handset easily goes for a week between charges. Comparing the Nokia 3210 against a smartphone in this area would be a bad idea, though. Obviously the smartphone would come off worse. They simply do so much more in the background than a featurephone, not to mention the difference in screen size. Which, incidentally, is typically the largest draw on the battery and we keep making them bigger!

In addition to this the handset is a good size, fitting nicely into the average pocket. Weight isn’t an issue either, it’s quite light. The software is intuitive and responsive, and for fans of the original you’ll be glad to hear that Snake makes its return on this device. (My current high score is 138, and I have no sense of how good or bad that is!)

Compared to the original, the default software is probably a bit different. Alongside the usual suspects – Phone, Contacts, Messages, Calculator, etc – there’s now a torch, voice recorder, a 2MP rear camera, and the ability to play music files alongside the FM radio I mentioned previously.

Another cool feature of the 2024 version is that it supports two SIMs. Not a feature that I’m taking advantage of, currently. It also comes with a USB-C charger and old-school removable battery!

Retro throwbacks galore

A surprising throwback to the 2000s comes from the pre-installed games. Snake, obviously, is there and you can play as much as you like without any issues. However others, like the Blackjack or Crossy Road games, have a set number of “free trial” plays before you have to buy the game.

Presumably this works the same way it did in the 00’s; you text and pay that way. I can’t say definitively, I simply haven’t bothered – which I’m sure tells you all you need to know about the quality of the games. Snake is still great, though.

Further retro vibes come from the camera, which is very reminiscent of the early camera phones. Grainy, fuzzy, terrible in low light… it’s awful. But then, honestly I think it’s meant to be.

As a product, the HMD Nokia 3210 is clearly aimed at people who want to keep in touch without the possibility – or maybe temptation – of being glued to a screen all day.

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So it’s practical. Any downsides?

Unfortunately yeah, the phone isn’t without its drawbacks. In particular, I have to say I really don’t like the keypad. The original Nokia 3210, like many phones of its era, had firmer keys which you knew you were pushing. While there’s some resistance offered by the keypad on the new 3210, it’s not much and you can easily press buttons.

The keypad: mostly lockable

Like the original, you can lock the keypad. Does this work? Categorically not. I can understand why the phone works this way, I really can… but having easily pressable buttons working in tandem with a keypad lock which doesn’t lock everything is potentially problematic.

Specifically, there have been times where I’ve taken the handset out of my pocket and it’s sitting there with a partial – or sometimes complete – emergency number on the screen. It’s one pocket keypress away from making a call that is going to waste some important people’s time. Not cool. Especially if, say, you’ve given this to a child who may be running around with it…

It has 4G, but don’t expect much.

When I first got the phone, one icon on the “launcher” stood out to me. Facebook. Why, I asked, did this featurephone have an unremovable icon for Facebook!? As it happens, I don’t use Facebook much any more, but out of curiosity I clicked it.

Browsing on the Nokia 3210 is powered by the Opera Mini browser, which combined with the 320×240 resolution of the QVGA screen means… you can’t really do much. In Facebook’s case it’s just enough to show a message that “Facebook is not supported on this browser”. No great loss to me, really, and the icon has vanished in a subsequent software update.

It’s unlikely that I’ll ever need to use this phone for any online content, I have an iPhone for that. But in a pinch it will load and render webpages, just a bit slowly. For example, both BBC Weather and Google seemed to load fine eventually.

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Final Thoughts

So, if you were to ask me whether I’d recommend getting a Nokia 3210, I think on balance I would say “Yes” in the following circumstances:

• You want a pretty robust phone to let your kids keep in touch without worrying about what apps they’re using. I’ve dropped this thing many times, it’s holding up pretty well!
  
• You’re considering a “digital detox” and paring back how connected you are day-to-day.
  
• All you need is calling and/or messaging functionality, but don’t want the hassle of a budget smartphone that’ll go “end of life” 10 days after you’ve bought it.

In the event that, unlike me, you’re someone who can’t bear to be parted from your social media then this is not the handset for you. On the other hand, maybe it is a handset you should try… at least for a while.

If you’re interested you can pick one up from a number of stores, as well as from HMD direct. Currently the handset seems to be around the £75 mark, which puts it firmly in the same price bracket as budget smartphones. However I’d be pretty confident in saying that I think the Nokia 3210 would outlast quite a few of those. Especially in terms of software updates, as putting my “cyber hat” on the low end of the smartphone market doesn’t tend to do well with ongoing support/upgrades.

All that’s left to say is thanks for reading, hope you found that useful – or at the very least interesting. You can check out more content on the site here, and I’m always updating with new posts.

See ya on the next one!

— TTFN